Chapter 10 - THE MURDER BEHIND THE EMPIRE
Samuel survived.
Barely.
His statement changed everything.
Federal investigators were called.
Nathan handed over the recording.
The trust documents.
The fake police evidence.
The threatening photograph.
Then he did something no one expected.
He called a press conference.
Daniel warned him.
“You understand what this does?”
Nathan straightened his tie.
“Yes.”
“The stock could crash.”
“I know.”
“You may lose control of the company.”
“I know.”
“People will sue.”
“I know.”
Daniel studied him.
“And you’re doing it anyway.”
Nathan looked through the glass wall.
Grace sat with Lily.
His daughter was coloring.
“Yes.”
Hundreds of reporters waited downstairs.
Nathan stepped onto the stage.
Flashes exploded.
Questions erupted.
“Mr. Cole!”
“Is Grace Miller your former mistress?”
“Did she kidnap your daughter?”
“Are you resigning?”
Nathan walked to the microphone.
“My name is Nathan Cole.”
The room quieted.
“For most of my life, I believed my family’s company represented discipline, loyalty, and hard work.”
He paused.
“I was wrong.”
Grace watched from backstage.
Nathan continued.
“My daughter’s mother, Grace Miller, was threatened and forced into hiding five years ago.”
Reporters shouted.
Nathan raised a hand.
“My late father participated.”
Silence.
“My fiancée’s family participated.”
More shouting.
“And evidence now suggests crimes were committed to protect both Cole Holdings and Sterling Development.”
Richard Sterling watched from his office across town.
He threw a glass at the television.
Nathan kept speaking.
“I will not protect my surname at the expense of my daughter.”
The stock ticker beneath the broadcast began dropping.
“I will not protect my company at the expense of the truth.”
Another drop.
“I will not defend dead men simply because they were powerful.”
Grace started crying.
Lily looked at her.
“Mommy?”
“I’m okay.”
Onstage, Nathan took a breath.
“Effective immediately, I am requesting an independent federal audit of Cole Holdings going back thirty-five years.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
That was the nuclear option.
“And until the investigation concludes, I am stepping aside as chief executive.”
Gasps filled the room.
Nathan finished.
“My daughter will never grow up believing silence is the price of survival.”
He walked away.
His phone was exploding before he reached backstage.
Board members.
Investors.
Bankers.
His mother.
Nathan ignored all of them.
Lily ran to him.
“Daddy!”
He caught her.
She hugged him.
“Was that your work?”
Nathan laughed.
“Yeah.”
“You talk too much.”
Grace burst out laughing.
Nathan looked at her.
For one second, the war disappeared.
Then Daniel approached.
His face was grave.
“They arrested Richard.”
Nathan nodded.
“For what?”
“Attempted murder of Samuel Blake and conspiracy charges.”
Grace exhaled.
“What about Victoria?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“She’s gone.”
Nathan’s smile vanished.
“Gone where?”
“No one knows.”
Nathan turned toward security.
“Find her.”
A phone rang.
Grace looked down.
Unknown number.
She answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
Then Lily’s nanny screamed from the hallway.
Grace spun around.
“What?”
The woman ran toward them.
“Lily’s backpack.”
Grace looked at Lily.
“What about it?”
The nanny held up a small black device.
A tracking beacon.
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A text message.
One photograph.
It showed the rear gate of Nathan’s estate.
Taken less than ten minutes earlier.
Under it were five words.
YOU SAVED HER ONCE.
Nathan stared.
May you like
A second message arrived.
TRY DOING IT AGAIN.
